Far right extremists
I've heard tell that a Canadian Blogger has pointed out that in the rest of the world, both Kerry and Bush would be considered right-wing extremists. If that "Rest of the world" includes mostly Europe, they are very correct. Both candidates have almost no socialist leanings which is what puts them into that class.
Presumably, both Bush and Kerry's attitudes towards domestic social attitudes will come out in detail in tonight's debate. But the stated opinions of both candidates place them firmly into right-wing parties on the continent (ahem). Britain, for example, has a cradle-to-the-grave welfare system. Germany has some of the strongest worker-protections around. Norway has one of the most onerous tax structures around;but the government does a lot, far more than an American would be comfortable with. National Health Care is common in Europe's developed countries.
Our welfare system is rather draconian. It has limits to how long you can be on it before you are removed from the roles. This is deliberate in order to incent people into getting higher-paying jobs that contribute to the public funds.
Our healthcare system is almost completely privatized. The US and some States chip in to pay for treatment for various classes of people, but the treatment is almost all at private clinics. The one big exception to this is the Veterans Administration. Medicare/Medicaid are subsidization programs to pay for private care.
Our pension plans are a bit more liberal, but still no where near European standards. Social Security is a pseudo-governmental payment for years of work designed to keep seniors off of the streets. I say 'pseudo-governmental' since in theory you pay your own benefits later in life, but in reality it is current workers who pay your benefit.
Our worker protections are much less than is commonly found in Europe. Union-membership has been languishing in the low-teens for a very long time now. The most extreme example is to compare against Germany. The German system has a standard work-week that is something like 35 hours a week. Plus, vacation is paid vacation by law, and you get a lot more of it than you get on US soil.
All of these have been on the democratic agenda at one point, or are even still in the party platform, but none of 'em are really viable in this climate. For one, worker protections hamper business growth, which causes businesses to argue against them. Secondly, healthcare costs have been rising in Europe too, which has caused budget crisis in many nations just from that. It is for these reasons that both Bush and Kerry are right-wing wackos.
Presumably, both Bush and Kerry's attitudes towards domestic social attitudes will come out in detail in tonight's debate. But the stated opinions of both candidates place them firmly into right-wing parties on the continent (ahem). Britain, for example, has a cradle-to-the-grave welfare system. Germany has some of the strongest worker-protections around. Norway has one of the most onerous tax structures around;but the government does a lot, far more than an American would be comfortable with. National Health Care is common in Europe's developed countries.
Our welfare system is rather draconian. It has limits to how long you can be on it before you are removed from the roles. This is deliberate in order to incent people into getting higher-paying jobs that contribute to the public funds.
Our healthcare system is almost completely privatized. The US and some States chip in to pay for treatment for various classes of people, but the treatment is almost all at private clinics. The one big exception to this is the Veterans Administration. Medicare/Medicaid are subsidization programs to pay for private care.
Our pension plans are a bit more liberal, but still no where near European standards. Social Security is a pseudo-governmental payment for years of work designed to keep seniors off of the streets. I say 'pseudo-governmental' since in theory you pay your own benefits later in life, but in reality it is current workers who pay your benefit.
Our worker protections are much less than is commonly found in Europe. Union-membership has been languishing in the low-teens for a very long time now. The most extreme example is to compare against Germany. The German system has a standard work-week that is something like 35 hours a week. Plus, vacation is paid vacation by law, and you get a lot more of it than you get on US soil.
All of these have been on the democratic agenda at one point, or are even still in the party platform, but none of 'em are really viable in this climate. For one, worker protections hamper business growth, which causes businesses to argue against them. Secondly, healthcare costs have been rising in Europe too, which has caused budget crisis in many nations just from that. It is for these reasons that both Bush and Kerry are right-wing wackos.
posted by Corwin at 2:21 PM
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